


Scribbles

by echo_of_words



Series: Cutthroat Fiction Event [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echo_of_words/pseuds/echo_of_words
Summary: Virgil's been wanting to meet his soulmate for years now, but so far, he hasn't been able to because he lives in a different state. But then, he ends up running into his soulmate in the place he least expected.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, background Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Cutthroat Fiction Event [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738621
Comments: 10
Kudos: 107





	Scribbles

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as part of an event called Cutthroat Fiction, inspired by Cutthroat Kitchen, where each round, all competitors get set a theme to plan a fic around, and then get to bid to sabotage each other! This round had three competitors, with the prompt "Soulmate AU".  
> I got a pretty heavy sabotage this round - I wasn't allowed to use question or exclamation marks, and on top of that, me and another competitor had to completely switch our fic ideas! Originally, I was planning to write a LAMP fic where when your soulmate sings something, you're forced to sing along. The competitor I switched with also had the sabotage of not being allowed to use dialogue, so I'm sure it was difficult for them, but they did really well and honestly, I think it kind of adds to it. ([Find their fic here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946468)) In the end, though, I had fun with theirs and they did a great job with mine, so win-win, honestly.
> 
> I kind of forgot to post this when the scores came out, but the fact that we already know our scores means that I can proudly say I've made it to the next and final round!
> 
>  **Warnings:** Swearing

Virgil rolls over and stares at the dark ceiling, his room illuminated only by the chink of moonlight falling through his curtains. He knows he should sleep—after all, he has to get up early tomorrow, and he’s trying to make a habit out of going to bed at a reasonable time, but for some reason, he just can’t seem to fall asleep tonight.

He closes his eyes again and lets out a long sigh. _Maybe counting will help._

He starts listing off numbers in his head, but he only gets to around sixteen until the counting starts to make him too aware of the seconds constantly ticking away and he starts thinking too much about the continuing passage of time and the inevitability of death and—yeah. No more counting.

He sighs again and sits up, throwing the covers off himself. Maybe looking at the sky will help him get tired. He gets to his feet, walks over to his window and opens it, letting the cool night air breeze over his face. He takes a deep breath and looks up. 

The sky is free of clouds tonight, and despite the light pollution of the city, he can still see a few stars twinkling down at him, and the almost full moon hanging in the sky.

He’s always loved the night sky. He can’t really explain it, but space has always fascinated him, and there’s something very calming about looking up at the stars and marvelling at their beauty while enjoying the darkness and peace of night.

A car door loudly slams in the street several stories below and he jumps. _Well._ Mostly _peace, anyway._

As he looks up at the stars, contemplating them, he feels a familiar tingling sensation on his right forearm. He looks down, and in the dim moonlight, he can barely make out the words _Are you awake_ in neat black handwriting.

He looks around for one of his skin-safe markers and sees the purple one lying on his desk. He leans over and grabs it before turning on his desk lamp, blinking a little at the sudden brightness. _yeah_ , he writes on his left arm. _wish i wasn’t, though_

After a moment, there’s a response. _Ah. I feel the same way. It would be beneficial for both of us to be asleep right now. However, for an unknown I am currently unable to fall asleep._

Virgil smiles a little as the writing rapidly fills up the space on his right arm. His soulmate, Logan, is always very articulate in his messages on their skin, but that often has the consequence that he very quickly has to switch the places he writes on because he has a tendency to take up all the space in a small amount of messages. At least they don’t have to share one arm, though—Logan is left-handed and Virgil is right-handed, meaning they each can write on their non-dominant arm without obstructing the other.

 _same_ , Virgil writes. _i need to get up early and i don’t want patton to yell at me for being sleep-deprived again._

 _Perhaps you could drink coffee in the morning in order to hide the fact that you did not get enough sleep_ , Logan suggests. _Providing you then_ do _get enough sleep the following night._

_nah. caffeine makes me too jittery. i don’t like it_

_Understandable. However, that means you should make it your priority to fall asleep as soon as possible._

Virgil sighs. _yeah, i know_ , he writes. Now, his right arm is full, though, and when he feels the tingling on his leg a moment later, he has to pull up the leg of his pyjama bottoms to read what Logan’s writing.

_I believe I introduced you to the 4-7-8 breathing exercise a while ago._

Virgil blinks at the message for a second. _yeah but i thought that was for anxiety and panic attacks_

_It is. However, focusing on your breathing can also help you fall asleep faster. Perhaps trying the technique now will benefit you._

_huh. alright. i’ll try that. thanks for the tip_ , Virgil writes. _what’re you gonna do_

_I will attempt to do the same thing. I was simply wondering how you were doing, and I usually do not have time to write to you in the morning, so I thought I would see whether I could have a conversation, if that is what these can be called, with you now, as I quite enjoy writing to you._

Virgil smiles at that. _i like you too, lo. goodnight._

There’s a pause.

_Good night, Virgil._

And not five minutes later, Virgil is finally able to drift off to sleep.

* * *

  
  


The next day, Virgil’s sitting in a crowded auditorium next to Patton, and thoroughly regretting his decision to accompany him here. Today is the day of the inter-state highschool drama competition, and Patton’s soulmate Roman is one of the competitors, so they decided that it was a good opportunity for them to meet, as it meant that Roman was coming to their state.

However, Patton also wanted Virgil to come along for moral support, and now he’s sitting here, with chattering all around him, Patton excitedly bouncing in his seat beside him and craning his neck, while writing on his arm with a blue marker several times a minute, evidently communicating with Roman.

Meanwhile, Virgil is absentmindedly doodling on his arm, around the smudged ink of last night and the slightly more legible _good morning_ from earlier. He’s not drawing anything in particular—mostly just abstract lines looping around the words, but occasionally, he adds a little drawing as well—small stormclouds or stars or question marks that don’t have any actual meaning behind them.

Then, without any warning, Patton jumps to his feet, jostling Virgil so badly that the open marker tip bounces off his face, and he can tell it must’ve left a mark.

“Patton, what—”

“Roman says I can come backstage during the break,” Patton says excitedly. “And then I can meet—” Patton bounces up and down excitedly. “I’m gonna meet my soulmate—and... ahhhh, now I’m nervous...”

“That’s—Patton, that’s great, but you kinda… uh… look.” He gestures at his face, and Patton looks down. His face falls.

“Oh. I’m really sorry, Virge, I was just excited, and uh… now I— I’m scared he won’t like me,” he admits quietly, sitting back down.

“Oh, Patton, it’ll be fine, don’t worry. It’s not like he’s a complete stranger, you’ve talked to him loads before. Look, I’ll be back in a second, I just need to go wash this off. I’ll be back before the competition starts,” Virgil says, trying to make his voice sound reassuring while desperately hoping that Logan isn’t mad at him for probably making him look stupid.

Patton nods. “All right. Again, sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine, I just— yeah.” Virgil gets to his feet and shuffles his way along the aisle of chairs in direction of the bathroom.

He turns into the hallway leading to the bathrooms and as he does so, he feels a tingling on his right arm. He looks down. _Are you all right_ , in Logan’s handwriting.

Virgil pats his pocket for his marker, but realises that he must’ve left it lying with Patton. Cursing his bad timing, he just hurries towards the bathroom, hoping to wash the line off and get back to his seat quickly so he can write back and stop Logan worrying.

However, when he ducks around the corner, he bumps into someone. He looks up, muttering a “sorry” and—

And he’s standing face-to-face with a person with a purple line on his cheek who’s staring at him, looking incredulous.

_Holy shit holy fuck oh my god it’s him —_

“Virgil.” It’s not a question.

“Logan.”

 _Holy shit this is my_ soulmate _oh my god why is he so pretty what the fuck —_

_CALM DOWN —_

“I...wasn’t expecting to meet you in a place like this,” Virgil manages.

_How am I being so calm what the fuck — HOLY FUCK WHAT’S GOING ON HOW IS THIS—_

“I was thinking the same thing,” Logan— _Logan, this is_ Logan _, his_ soulmate _, holy shit —_says. “You never seemed like the type of person to come to a drama competition, of all things. Or generally, events that involve large groups of people.”

“Yeah, I… my friend Patton dragged me along. He was gonna meet his soulmate here. But… uh. Looks like I managed to do that too.” He gives a small chuckle. _HOW AM I THIS CALM I —_

“It seems so, yes.”

There’s a small awkward pause.

“Um, excuse me.”

Virgil turns around. There’s a short girl standing behind him. “You’re kinda blocking the way.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry.” Virgil steps towards to the left, and Logan follows him.

“So,” Logan says. “I suppose we should… exchange phone numbers.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. I—uh—give me your phone, I’ll put mine in.” Virgil holds his hand out awkwardly, and Logan hands it to him, and he puts his number in and hands it back, and they fall back into an awkward silence.

“I think the competition’s starting soon,” Virgil mutters. He doesn’t actually know when it’s going to start, but he needs to break the tension _somehow_.

“Yes. I will… text you. So we can meet up and talk another time.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I—uh—yeah. I’m gonna go. Wash this off.” Virgil cringes internally at his awkwardness, but his instincts are screaming at him to get out of this situation, and, well, he _does_ need to wash the marker off his face.

“Yes, that would be appreciated.” Logan gives him a small smile. “I will be seeing you soon, I hope.”

“Yeah.” Virgil manages a smile of his own. “I hope so too.”

And when Virgil’s standing in the bathroom several minutes later, staring at his own reflection as he rubs at the purple line on his face, he’s got a warm glow in his chest, wondering how he could possibly have gotten this lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr! [@echo-of-words](https.//echo-of-words.tumblr.com) (I also currently have a Bad Things Happens Bingo card and am still in need of prompts, in case anyone wants to send me some!)


End file.
